Book Review: Defending Latina/o Immigrant Communities

Reviewed by Roberto Haro, Ph.D.

Defending Latina/o Immigrant Communities: The Xenophobic Era of Trump and Beyond (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019; $19.99) by Dr. Álvaro Huerta.

Dr. Álvaro Huerta has crafted an impressive and valuable book that speaks directly and poignantly to the long-lived biases against Latinos in the United States. His collection of carefully selected essays and their key sources proffers a strong testimonial about the prejudices that developed against this community.  The book begins with two significant commentaries about Dr. Huerta’s purpose in preparing the book. The essay by Dr. Juan Gómez Quiñones is a tightly written erudite account of the formation and existence of negativity toward Latinos that has plagued them in this country.  The foreword by Dr. José Z. Calderon blends key aspects of the dilemma posed by this prejudicial phenomenon and the thoughtful, and at times, mirthful approach used by Dr. Huerta in presenting this theme.

What sets this collage of materials aside from other accounts of the bigotry against Latinos is the way Dr. Huerta blends scholarly documentation with poignant anecdotal information. Too often scholars engage in scrupulous documentation to underpin their narrative presentations and prepare sanitized treatises that are better suited for reading by their academic colleagues than use by a much broader readership.  The detachment most academic use to prepare their books results in a cold and lifeless chronicle of attitudes and events. Dr. Huerta has, instead, injected much of his keen observations and personal experiences to underscore the problems and challenges.

Mexicans were here long before white Americans traveled to the Southwest.  After the Mexican American War of 1842 and the resulting Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexicans were conquered people, forced to adopt different economic, political and social structures enforced by the victors. From 1848 onward, there would be waves of immigrants from Mexico and other parts of the Americas to this country, and especially to the Southwest.  Each new wave would be the result of a “push – pull” dynamic.  Enticements from those who needed Latino labor in the US were matched by tragic conditions like famine, revolutions, suppressions and personal danger that forced Latinos from their countries. This duality has enveloped the status of Latinos in America, and erroneously justified abuses, hatred and negative stereotypes.  And, as Dr. Huerta accentuates in most of his essays, it has marginalized Latinos in this country.

The negative perceptions and biases against Latinos are examined carefully by Dr. Huerta in two ways that are commendable.  He has done extensive research, most of it well documented, to prepare a series of essays that meticulously focus on the existential phenomenon that projects an undesirable portrait of an abused part of the American society. But at the same time, he has provided an important introspective and personal account and perspective of what Latinos face and endure. Both are used as filters to study and report on the way different structures in American society deal with this oppressed minority. This form of subjugation leads to personal and economic disenfranchisement, and in too many cases, poverty.  The schools, the police and the media are examined to reveal their complicity as elements that force an external socialization on Latinos. As a result, Dr. Huerta discusses from a personal vantage point how counter forces in the Latino community develop to challenge and resist abusive assimilation tactics. Yes, gangs and illegal activities arise, but so do positive mores by which Latinos and their families cope with the challenges they face, often from a very hostile larger society. Family life that is strong, healing and supportive is well presented by Dr. Huerta as part of his upbringing.  Despite the barriers the larger society places in the path of capable Latinos, Dr. Huerta through family, friends and mentors, succeeds.  That success is critical, and something that needs to be shared with a broad audience.

Part of the marginalization of a minority is a forced type of segregation that result in ghettos. For Latinos, it is the barrios and colonias in which they live, and mainly thrive. The barrios are a refuge, a place where the minority culture exists, nurtures and even protects its members.  Dr. Huerta gives readers a wonderful trip through these places with his accounts of growing up there and how different elements in the Latino family and culture influence his ambitions, determination, and eventual success. In some of his essays, he presents the harsh life experiences endured by Latinas and Latinos. But he also shares tender moments of self-analysis that surface feelings of rebuff, insecurity, and frustration.  Yet, he tells the reader what it is like to know poverty and rejection and still find a path to succeed.

Built into the fabric of the book are the structural problems identified by Dr. Huerta that condition and perpetuate the dangers and damages to Latinos. To this day, the xenophobic, mendacious and malicious rantings of an American president contribute to the injustice Latinos face in this country. Such bigotry, if continually vocalized by American leaders, continues to infect the minds, attitudes and behavior of too many people in this country. Dr. Huerta is to be admired for raising these unpleasant attitudes that result in prejudicial and even violent behavior toward Latinos and other minorities.  But to his credit, he offers different ways to overcome these challenges and find common ground among the different groups in our society. Despite the human rights violations that Huerta mentions, he offers positive and constructive ways to construct an encompassing societal compact that benefits all. And to do this, he offers options and ideas that are welcome and valuable heuristic methods for learning and classroom use.

In his essays, Dr. Huerta uses terms that are not just descriptors, but are also definitional and focus on the character and ideology of this minority group. Terms like Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Latinos, Latinx and the politically charged Chicano play an important role in his analysis. He often uses the terms separately, but also finds ways to blend and integrate them to form a composite of the people about whom he cares and writes. His definitional perspectives add to the richness of the stories he tells and engender a sense of shared experiences that transcend geographical location, and subcultures within the Latinos of America.   

Mentors are a critical part of a person’s life, and Dr. Huerta identifies a few who made a profound difference in his life.  Obvious Dr. José Z. Calderón and Dr. Juan Gómez Quiñones come to mind. However, directly and indirectly he calls attention to others, like the brilliant UC Berkeley scholar Dr. Ronald Takaki and UCLA scholar Dr. Leo Estrada—both deceased. Mentors played a critical role in his intellectual and moral development, and helped open his mind to not just exploring, understanding and rationalizing the abuses visited on Latinos, but the conceptualization of portable strategies that can combat these negative biases. And along the way, Dr. Huerta has morphed from mentee to mentor. And the proof of that is in the preparation of this valuable and seminal book in which he moves from acolyte participant to the role of intellectual town crier and change agent. 

I could go on to explore in more detail some of the essays Dr. Huerta uses in his superb book. However, two things auger against that. First, others have already devoted considerable time and effort to describe and explore the various issues in the separate essays. And second, time and space will not allow much further commentary. Suffice to say that Dr. Huerta has written a well-crafted and scholarly book that provides a plethora of insights, perspectives and well-documented research on the persistent prejudices that challenge Latinos in our country.

[Dr. Roberto Haro is a retired professor and university senior administrator with career service at major research universities in California, Maryland and New York. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from UC Berkeley. This review first appeared in Somos en escrito.]